She hated him for leaving her with scars without saying anything.
She despised him for ruthlessly abandoning her.
That's why Dolores looked at Reed with resentment.
Like a girl going through belated puberty, she blindly hated Reed.
Though she felt sorry for his increasingly broken state.
But at some point, her hatred disappeared.
It was undoubtedly when he stood up against Freesia.
She began to see him not as an object of hatred but as her first love, mentor, and her one and only Oppa, Reed.
"Unni, are you crying?"
"Uh, huh?"
"Don't be sad."
Rosaria covered Dolores's eyes with both hands.
"I'm not crying. I was just thinking about the past for a moment."
"Really?"
"Yes."
When Rosaria carefully removed her hands, Dolores' smiling face appeared.
"Shall we find a book that Rosaria can study together with Unni?"
"Yes!"
They began to look through the books piled up on the library shelves one by one.
As if picking out toys to play with, they continued looking for books, unaware of the passing time.
***
Dolores carefully left Rosaria's room.
She felt drained even though they were just looking for books.
Rosaria, who was the most active, began to doze off at the desk, and Dolores put her to bed and left.
'It seems like a lot of time has passed...'
Although she had initially discarded everything, the clock showed that too much time had passed.
The current time was 4:20 pm.
She couldn't believe that she hadn't been aware of the time until now.
'I need to get back to work quickly now.'
Dolores's head throbbed due to her disrupted schedule.
She needed to fix it.
Because it was a problem she brought upon herself.
That's when it happened.
"Ms. Tower Master."
A deep voice made her head turn.
Reed was standing in front of her.
She nonchalantly praised Rosaria.
"Rosaria is quite impressive. I was surprised when I heard she folded the mana pillar but like this…"
"Your secretary came."
Dolores's speech was cut off.
She had been with Rosaria, completely unaware of anything else.
"When did she come...?"
"She came around 2:10 pm, asking if the Lord of Wallin Tower was here."
Most likely, she had been worried about something happening to Dolores and had been searching for her.
Since she had never overridden her schedule before, it was reasonable for her to find it strange.
"Your secretary seemed to have made a mistake."
"Excuse me?"
"She said that the Lord of Wallin Tower had no schedule today, but kept insisting that there was a schedule."
"......So?"
"I didn't listen to the nonsense anymore and sent her away."
Dolores looked up at him incredulously.
"Did you send her away at the door?"
"I didn't have enough time to entertain her nonsense, so I sent her away."
"Ha... I understand. I'll handle it. But why didn't you tell me? What if it was really important?"
When Rosaria was with her, it would have been just a nuisance.
"From what I heard, it was all trivial matters. It would have only disturbed you while you were with my daughter."
Dolores finally understood.
It was his consideration for her.
When the secretary came looking for her, Reed must have realized that Dolores had some business to attend to.
However, Reed pretended not to know.
So that Dolores could have some time alone with Rosaria.
That's why she couldn't brazenly raise her voice.
"......Anyway, Rosaria is a very talented child. It's just that other people can't understand her. It's a problem."
"Is that so?"
"It's not that she lacks comprehension, but she doesn't know why she has to understand. It's like breathing naturally, but they can't accept it when you tell them to understand. The problem is that everyone dismisses it as normal because she is just a kid and can't understand."
"I see."
Reed pondered on who could be the most suitable person to be a teacher for her.
Dolores just looked at Reed quietly.
Somehow it felt like he was considering everyone except her, and it made her feel upset.
"Shall I teach her?"
In the end, she spoke up first.
"Huh?"
"Since I have work on weekdays, I can't do it... I'll visit every Sunday. I can certainly teach her better than the other wizards here."
"Personally, I don't mind... but is it okay for you?"
From Reed's perspective, it was a very good thing.
Having Dolores, a graduate of Escolleia Academy and a genius, teach his daughter was nothing short of a blessing.
However, he was also concerned about Dolores being a workaholic and whether Rosaria could cause problems in her work.
"It's fine. This is... a..."
She drew out a word that didn't come to mind immediately.
"Hobby."
That word she had never taken up before.
"This is my hobby."
***
So, Dolores became Rosaria's private tutor.
Rosaria liked Dolores, and Reed didn't feel any awkwardness, so everything went smoothly.
The problem was the people around them.
- I heard that the Lord of the Wallin Tower is teaching the young lady.
The person making a fuss was the Lord of Monolith Tower.
He was a fat man who took up about 70% of the screen that appeared.
He was also famous for having as much greed as he was fat.
"It's because my daughter likes her and she agreed to it. This is beyond my authority."
-Isn't the Lord of Wallin Tower just trying to pull her into her domain? Blindingly obvious!
"It's none of your business."
-What did you say!
The Lord of Monolith Tower became agitated.
As Reed tapped his chin with his right index finger, he said,
"Let's think about it. What did all of you send for my daughter?"
-Isn't our lecture notes enough? If it were a student or an apprentice in our tower, they would bow down to me every morning.
"That's the story for the students, but my daughter is only 7 years old. She doesn't even know her identity yet. To her, it's just a thick and boring book full of letters."
-Are you saying that our gifts are not gifts?
"They're not gifts. She felt stressed as soon as she received it. How could that be a gift? It's just torment. The only real gift came from the Lord of Wallin Tower."
-What did the Lord of the Wallin Tower give?
"She gave her a small teddy bear."
How could they not think of that?
In fact, it was natural.
-....
Since she was a genius before she was a girl, they had hoped for her to grow up and be beneficial to them.
They hadn't thought about things like fairy tale books or dolls.
"All I did was choose someone who thinks of the child first. It doesn't matter how much her academic achievements increase or how much her grades rise. All that matters is someone who can treat her as a teacher, a big sister, and a friend."
The Lord of Monolith Tower became silent.
He must have come to terms with Reed's words.
Reed was about to suggest hanging up when the Lord of Monolith Tower spoke again.
-That...
"...?"
-There is a magic measuring dummy that resembles a doll, what about that...?
"...."
'I should hang up.'
Reed was proud of himself for suppressing the urge.
"Anyway, why bother sending it when it'll be destroyed soon? Just leave it."
